by J. L. Madore
“Of course not. All you need is the code for the door.”
Ronnie reclaimed her bin and waved away his protest. “You help Thea. I’m capable of carrying my own ice, Romeo.”
Danel scowled at his bride but his gaze held no heat. He then escorted Thea to what appeared to be an elevator but with no doors. “Pull the screens and rails closed, and you’re good to go to the third floor. Then, do the same upstairs to come down. Avoid the second floor. We’ve got an injured dragon resting up there. You good?”
Injured dragon? People often said bizarre things she didn’t understand in this realm. It made her wonder if she was simple-minded or simply out of her depths?
“Thea? You good?”
“Screens. Rails. Code. Third floor not second. And don’t leave the building until you drive us home later. Got it.”
Danel smiled. “Okay, you have a good night. I’m going to go kiss my beautiful bride and get back to work. I’m on the second floor if something happens and you need me.”
Thea stepped into the elevator and pulled the screens and rails closed. “Thank you, Danel.”
He waited until she pushed the button and the elevator got moving before he turned to leave. As the car climbed two floors, she realized this was the third elevator she’d been in—the one at the CN Tower, the one at the big shopping center with the flying geese sculpture, and this one.
As the elevator rose, she examined the floor of the car with a heavy heart. Warrior Tanek’s body was found here. What a tragedy Zander and his men suffered that day. Nephilim had known only immortality until that time, and suddenly lost their commander and oldest friend.
The loss of such a brave male was mourned as far as the Realm of the Powers.
When the vehicle bumped to a stop, she reversed the tasks with the screens and rails, and let herself out. The white marble of the loft’s antechamber glistened with a pristine shine. The code Danel told her opened her way, and she stepped inside.
A small powder room sat just inside the entrance on the left, right where Danel described it. Once she’d taken care of the pressure in her bladder, she felt a great deal better.
She wandered deeper into the open-concept loft and took in Zander’s taste in artwork and rich wooden finishes. The styles and accents here spoke of manly confidence and suited the Sumerian. The styles and accents at the ranch house, though, were very different.
Those were very much Austin’s tastes, she assumed.
A noise spun her toward an empty corridor.
Only it wasn’t empty.
“Phoenix, forgive me.” She slapped a hand across her eyes, the image of naked perfection etched into her mind’s eye. “I didn’t . . . I hope you don’t think . . . I would never . . .”
“Stop the stammering, angel,” he snapped. “Still can’t tell us apart, eh? Here’s a hint. I’m the other one.”
Thea dropped her hand. The warrior strutting toward her truly stood the mirror image of his twin—or she supposed. She’d never had the pleasure of seeing Phoenix naked. The cut angles of his musculature, the sharp taper of wide shoulders down to a fit waist. Sweet Lady, what a waste to give such a perfectly-made male the character of a lying cad.
“Stop eye-fucking me. It ain’t gonna happen.”
Thea straightened and raised her focus to meet his heated gaze. “I never entertained the thought. Having sex with you was the most colossal mistake ever made.”
“Couldn’t agree more.” He turned the door handle on his left and stepped into the room. Her feet followed unbidden. The spectacular strength in his legs and back stole her breath. The dimpled rounds of his chiseled backside . . ..
I don’t need a male, she reminded herself.
Especially a sexually indiscriminate, morally deviant male who has, by all accounts, slept with every female he ever came across. It stung to be included in such a category.
Her first lover should have been someone who cherished the gift of her untouched body. She stared, wondering how she’d been so blind as to only see Seth’s physicality and not realize he wasn’t Phoenix.
Well, in truth, his physicality was very distracting.
During their misguided dalliance two months ago, things devolved quickly. Clothes discarded. Greedy hands gripped flesh. The out-of-body fullness of him penetrating her.
“Fuck, stop!” he shouted, turning from the pile of folded clothes atop the laundry room counter. “Go forth, live, love, I don’t give a shit. I’m not into you.”
“Nor I you,” she said, matching the heat and disdain in his voice without effort.
“Hormones don’t lie, bitch, and in this little room, the scent of your wanton is tunneling through my system. Don’t you get it? I hate you.”
“No more than I hate you, surely.”
Seth cursed and turned to the counter, sorting through the clothes. “Let me get dressed in peace and I’ll leave.”
Good. He needed to leave because as much as she hated it, he was right. Her body ached. Having him there, looking like Phoenix and soooo incredibly virile, made her want things she shouldn’t want—didn’t want.
Bang. His fists came down on the counter. He spun on her, fierce and gloriously aroused. Her eyes widened as she took in the solid length standing proud against his abdomen. “What are you trying to pull?”
He advanced fast and she stumbled backward, hitting the opposite side of the hall with a bump. “I’ve done nothing.”
“Bullshit.” He stormed at her and her heart raced triple time. “You got what you wanted from me. You ruined my life. Now leave me alone.”
Leave him alone?
With clothes gripped in his fists, Seth stormed up the corridor and ducked into the guest room he’d used to shower and clean up. He needed distance from the angel. Whatever had been broken with his sex drive had suddenly worked itself out, making him randy and raring to go.
“Do you honestly think you have anything I want?” she said, close on his heels.
He cursed and rebounded, gripping the clothes in his fists as a lifeline to keep from touching her. “If you’re so repulsed, stop stray doggin’ me. You’ve got it bad for my brother—I get that. I’m not him.”
Far more hurt rang in his voice than he’d ever share if he was in his right mind. He wasn’t. His body ached. Her arousal triggered every sexual desire he possessed. He wanted her.
He wanted her beneath him with his hips thrusting. On her knees. With her legs wrapped around his neck and his mouth fused to her core. He wanted her submission. He wanted her to dominate and ride him until he lost his fucking mind.
Fuuuuck! He spun and headed for the safety of the en suite.
“What is so wrong with me?”
He one-eightied on a dime to explain that to her and dropped the clothes to the carpet. Fuck me.
Thea stood, arms out to the side, tears streaming down the perfect skin of her cheeks. “He chose Storme weeks after we’d been meeting, weeks of sharing time, interests, and affection. He flirted. We joked. I honestly thought . . .”
His beast raged forward, his fury overwritten in an instant by her tears. Damn, when had he become such a gullible sap?
She brushed a rough hand over her cheek. “In this realm, he can’t even speak to me. He’s distant and maddeningly polite. I’m his problem. A responsibility. I see him in love and it rips at my insides. I wanted that. I thought he and I had started that.”
Seth cursed and kept his feet rooted. “I’m the last person to comment on poor choices and the fallout that follows. You saw something you wanted and went for it. The fact that it went sideways and blew up in your face is on you. Own it.”
“But my mistake should not be his burden.”
Figures. Even with her life in the shitter, she was still obsessed with how it affected his twin. Hello . . . did she care that he’d been the collateral damage to her seduction?
“Look, I was Phoenix’s problem long before you, and trust me, my twin gets off on being the better man.”
“I don’t want to be a project.”
“Yeah, try being an indentured servant to the heavens for a few thousand years. You’ll learn that what you want doesn’t mean jack shit. It sucks.”
Long, flaxen silk swept through the air as she turned to head out. From the back, you couldn’t tell she was pregnant, and she’d give any male whiplash from trying to get a second look.
Phoenix really was an idiot for not exploring something with her when he had the chance. Not that he’d wish his brother trapped by an unwanted kid, but still . . . she was spectacular.
The scent of her desire eased off, drowned out by regret and shame. Good. She deserved that for her part in this mess.
He pulled on the pants he’d grabbed and followed her into the outer foyer. Socks and boots on, he grabbed his trench. “Hey, a word of advice from one rejected screwup to another, Phoenix is great but he’s no saint. Don’t twist yourself to fit his mold of acceptable behavior. It’s exhausting and never sticks. Claim your shit, angel, and keep your eyes on the horizon.”
Seth yanked on the shirt he’d grabbed in the laundry room and got outta Dodge. He booked it out of the loft and into the night as fast as his shitkickers could carry him.
He was proud of himself. Seth of old would’ve let the naked angst between them ignite and combust in a heated round of hate sex. Instead, he’d fought the urge and taken the high road.
Look at him, rocking this adulting bullshit.
Strutting down the street with the dull bass of Zander’s club throbbing behind him, he breathed in the crisp night air and his head cleared. He’d made the right call. Definitely.
Damn straight.
He hated that angel and hated that she affected him even more. He adjusted himself and cursed. Yeah, and because of her getting all horny, he now sported a rock-cock rubbing the inside of his jeans.
Thanks for the chafe burn, bitch.
Kyrian landed next to Zander, Phoenix, Brennus, and Bo down at the docks around half past two. Milling amongst the paint-chipped industrial equipment of a closed fish market, the peanut gallery was shootin’ the shit, waiting until everyone arrived.
“Evening, boys, what you got cooking?”
“Weel,” Brennus said in his finest brogue. “While following up on a Djinn complaint of trouble, Zander and I stumbled upon a warehouse about a block thataway that piqued our interest.”
He followed the line of sight where Brennus pointed. “Piqued in what way?”
“We dinnae ken, but Z’s warning bells went off, and that’s good enough for me.”
That was good enough for any of them.
After the devastation of last summer, when Zander and Tanek followed a demon kidnapper into a warehouse and got ambushed, they’d grown a shit-ton more cautious. The new protocol was all-calls for any and all unknown situations where they could get their asses handed to them and wind up dead.
“Well, if something in that warehouse woke Zander’s gift, it ain’t good.” Kyrian pulled a hand-rolled from the platinum cigarette case Austin gave him for his birthday and offered them out. Zander and Bo each took one, but the others shook him off.
The fools didn’t know what they were missing.
After lighting up, he drew a long pull and listened while Brennus explained the breakdown.
“Phoenix will circle the building first and unlock the exits with his magic mojo. Then, we see what in the Hell Realm is going on. Once Hark and Seth get here—”
“Wait no longer, my brothers,” Seth said, jogging into the mix. “Let the good times roll.”
Kyrian exhaled a cloud of sweet-smelling smoke and eyed the Egyptian. “Well, your mood improved over the past few hours. Care to share?”
Seth’s smile widened. “Nope. I’m good.”
Kyrian almost choked on his smoke. Seth didn’t do subtlety or keeping his own council. The fact that the guy wasn’t spouting off made him more curious than ever.
Zander’s phone buzzed, and the guy butted out on the bottom of his shitkicker. “Okay, so D ran with the addy I texted him and found a defunct plastics factory. The place went under last winter and should be empty and abandoned.”
“Perfect for demon squatters up to no good,” Bo said, rubbing his hands together. “How do you want to handle this, Z? Your call.”
Zander tucked his phone back into his leather jacket and drew his Glock from his shoulder harness. With his right hand occupied, he outed his dagger with his left. He smiled up at them and there was a rumble of male approval. “Hot and heavy, boys. Like you mean it.”
Kyrian outed his twin SIG forties and rolled his shoulders. “Keep it tight and watch your six, boys. Austin promised us peameal westerns for brekkie, and no one wants to miss that.”
The growl of agreement had them locking down. No losses.
They’d all be sitting at that table later.
CHAPTER SIX
Thea handed her coat to Danel once he’d finished hanging his and Ronnie’s. Her new boots had left blisters on the back of her heels, and it was a relief to toe them off and set her feet free. With her purse clutched under her arm, she started the long climb up three flights of stairs. It felt like her legs weighed a thousand pounds each. And nearing the end of her pregnancy as she was, that wasn’t far from the truth. She was thoroughly tired from her day.
A motorcycle ride. An adult toy store. A hedonist club.
At O-Zone, she’d sat perched on a tall stool at the end of the bar, her body thrumming with sexual energy and nowhere to put it. Half-naked bodies ground on the dance floor. Sexy men in leather gawked at costumed women twirling in dance cages.
Dark. Light. Other. It didn’t seem to matter.
If they came and left in peace, they were welcome.
“I’m amazed that Zander allows humans into the club,” she said, raising a hand to cover her yawn.
Danel shrugged. “There’s warding on the building to discourage them but some humans have strong wills and come in anyway. The staff keeps a keen eye on them to make sure there’s no exposure. Other than that, it’s live and let live.”
Evidently. Thea saw a Darkworld female, accompanied by two males, step into one of the vacant washrooms—two. Part of her found the hedonistic atmosphere empowering. Another part of her found it unbearably frustrating.
“Did you two have a good night?” Danel asked, the three of them stopping on the landing of the second floor. “No one bothered you? Meck kept an eye on you?”
Ronnie rolled her eyes. “Meck doesn’t need to guard me when I’m standing behind a bar twenty feet below where you are. I’m fine. You shouldn’t bother him.”
Danel scrubbed a hand over his ebony goatee and shrugged. “It’s his job to watch out for the safety of the ladies in the club.”
Ronnie smiled. “I’ve worked the night shift for two years and in all that time, the biggest threat to ever loom large over me was you.”
Danel swung his arm over Ronnie’s shoulder and turned her down the hall toward their suite. “I think I feel some looming large over you coming on right now.”
Ronnie laughed and waved goodnight, the two of them devolving into a tangle of hands and laughter as they neared their private space.
Thea sighed, and started up the next flight of stairs and down to the double suite Austin designed for the Egyptian twins at the end of the third-floor corridor. Thankfully, being only half past three, Phoenix was still on patrol and Storme was in bed.
Thea made quick work of her nightly bathroom routine and closed herself in her room. In answer to Danel’s question, yes, she had enjoyed her evening. Well, most of it anyway.
Seeing Seth again . . . very naked and aroused, swirled up uncomfortable feelings inside her: attraction, regret, wanton, loneliness. Her body and mind were a jumble.
And what did he mean, she ruined his life? They shared hours of explosive passion and created a life. He refused to take responsibility for his part in that, so how had he lost anything?
&n
bsp; She rubbed a hand over their child and sighed.
No matter what came, or what she said, she’d never regret what she and Seth shared. Their moment of connection created a child—a child she cherished and very much celebrated.
And, if truth be told, she celebrated the memory of their connection too. Seth was a virile and passionate lover. With his size and strength . . . she never imagined . . .
For the millionth time, she let her mind drift to the memories of that night. And again, uncomfortable feelings swirled to the surface. The sexual energy vibrating in her entire body all night reignited with a force and she moaned out loud.
She adored Austin, but honestly, she really did need a male.
Or maybe not. Scrambling to her feet, she fished the black plastic bag from the bottom of her purse and dumped its contents onto her bed.
Two bottles of lubricant—one warming, one not—one DVD Ronnie recommended about sexy pirates, one vibrating . . . egg? One box of condoms—ribbed for her pleasure. And one penis—amazingly sculpted and with an added feature of twelve-speed vibration.
She picked it up, studying it and comparing it to the real thing that had been pointed at her earlier tonight in the loft. A sad copy, actually.
Was this what she’d been reduced to?
You reap what you sow, right? The male she’d wanted to have sex with, hadn’t wanted her . . . and the one that had—
Goodness, she groaned again, envisioning Seth naked and angry, the bands of muscle, the chiseled jaw, the ridges and angles of physical perfection.
Her body bloomed, her nipples tightening as heat pooled between her thighs. She’d convinced herself it wasn’t Seth she saw when she drank in the sight of him but Phoenix.
It was—wasn’t it?
With the two of them identical, how could she be sure?
A wave of guilt and self-loathing threatened to drag her out to sea. Phoenix loved Storme and Storme was her friend . . . almost. They were certainly on the way to becoming friends.
No good would come of her fixating on a mated male. She needed to control her hormones and put Phoenix out of her mind. Seth wasn’t any safer in the “smart choice” categories.